Sunday, October 31, 2010

Well-known Papua New Guinea bird scientist dies

By MALUM NALU

Papua New Guinea’s first ornithologist (bird scientist) Paul
Igag –internationally renowned for his work in the Crater Mountain area of Eastern
Highlands province - died suddenly last Friday night in Goroka.

Paul Igag…a lifetime passion for birds

Details of his death were not immediately available today, however, the scientific community in both PNG and overseas is
mourning the death of Igag, PNG’s first national expert on birds from PNG, who
held a PhD

Dozens of students and his co-workers affectionately called
him "Uncle Paul”.

Close friends and scientific colleagues have created an
online memorial in memory of Igag, which they hope will create a good profile
of his life and a last record and tribute of all of his accomplishments.

“In the field Paul worked well with local assistants and he
always trained up a good team of young men and women to help with his various
field projects.

“Back in town, Paul collaborated with top ornithologists
worldwide.

“Paul's research covered many topics, but his real passion
was large parrots.

“He made important discoveries about palm cockatoos and
vulturine parrots that have and will continue to help guide conservation of
these threatened species.

“We all grieve, but we should also celebrate how lucky we
were to have been in the presence of such a wonderful man.”

Igag had worked on the conservation biology of various
species at Crater Mountain since 1999 with the support of the Wildlife
Conservation Society (New York).

With generous support from the Pacific Biological
Foundation, he came to the Australian
National University
in 2001 to study for a Masters degree under the supervision of Rob Heinsohn and
Sarah Legge.

The aim of Igag’s research was to outline the breeding
biology and likely causes of threat to three species of large parrot found in
the New Guinea
rainforest.

Palm cockatoos (Probosciger aterrimus) and Pesquet’s
parrots (Psittrichus fulgidus) are threatened by over-exploitation for
food and the thriving trade in their feathers, and along with Eclectus parrots
(Eclectus roratus) are threatened by loss of habitat.

In January this year, the work of Igag and PNGOBR colleague
Miriam Supuma, was featured on a high-acclaimed BBC documentary by
international environmental icon David Attenborough on the increasingly-rare
birds of paradise.

The documentary followed Igag and Supuma as they went about
researching how killing birds of paradise for feathers for ceremonial headdress
was endangering rare species.

3 comments:

Have known late Paul Igag during our University days and found him to be a very good caring friend. I remember him for his great skills in the game of soccer and a typical Madang guy. Sad that he died so young.Goodbye Mam.

I don't understand how nobody has mentioned this before, but I think there is a HIGH probability that Paul was killed because of his work to protect the birds. That documentary showed the world how these magnificent birds were being slaughtered in massive numbers for no other reason than to provide decoration for some people's headdresses. Also, it was pointed out that the feathers of these birds are worth a lot of money. Paul should be exhumed and toxicology should be done. His "sudden death" sounds just like the "sudden death" of jungle primates who fall victim to a poison dart.

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